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Southwestern IHzstorzcal Quarterly

Houston's Forgotten Heritage: Landscape, Houses, Interzors, 1824- 1914. By DorothyKnox Howe Houghton, Barrie M. Scardino, Sadie Gwin Blackburn, andKatherine S. Howe. (Houston: Rice University Press, 1991. Pp. vii+ 387.Foreword, preface, black-and-white photographs, notes, index. $49.95.)Soon after historian William Seale published The TasteJul Interlude: AmericanInteriors Through the Camera's Eye, 186o-197, a collection of over 250 periodphotographs of American domestic interiors, Melinda Young Frye wrote in theWznterthur Portfolio that "it should inspire local historians to look deeply in theirown communities for similar visual records that may be applied to specific re-gional projects." Houston is one of the few communities that has taken thechallenge to heart. In Houston's Forgotten Heritage, the authors, all members ofthe Junior League of Houston, have collected not only photographs of' houseinteriors, but also of landscapes, architecture, and social life.It is fitting that William Seale has written the foreword and Margaret SwettHenson the introduction, a concise history of Harris County. These precedethe four illustrated essays on gardening, houses, furnishings, and domestic life.Sadie Gwin Blackburn provides readers with a glimpse of the Houston land-scape in the early nineteenth century and tracks the terrain into the early twen-tieth century when landscape design became a discipline and a profession. Hercontribution on the Houston environment addresses topics that need attention:Texas gardens, parks, and cemeteries.Writing about domestic architecture, Barrie M. Scardino focuses on con-struction techniques and building materials of early Texas houses, while notneglecting the manner in which Houston houses fit within the mainstream ofAmerican architectural styles. Scardino demonstrates her familiarity with wide-ranging secondary sources and effectively uses the Sanborn fire-insurancemaps to interpret Houston's built environment.Katherine S. Howe's essay focuses on the furnishings of Houston's earlyhomes. Drawing on the trend-setting middle and upper middle classes, Howeplaces the taste of Houstonians clearly within the styles of house interiors thatwere popular nationwide. She uses probate records, especially inventories, citydirectories, and family papers, and includes over fifty interior photographs toillustrate her subject.In the final entry, Dorothy Knox Howe Houghton places the material cul-ture within the context of social history. Perhaps better placed at the beginningof the book, this essay ably covers myriad topics: transportation, foodways, cus-toms and social rituals, health, and public institutions.In any subsequent edition, authors might consider supplying the dates thateach photograph was taken (even approximate ones) and providing readerswith a conclusion to their original essays. Neither of these suggestions, how-ever, mars the usefulness of the League's present work.The book represents only a part of the Junior League's ambitious efforts. Inconducting the research, project members created a large archival collectionnow housed at the Houston Metropolitan Research Center of the HoustonPublic Library. This book, as well as the collection that awaits the further work